Selby Vusimusi Moyo
activist
By Selby Moyo
Activists
The yawning lack of ideological infusion in the lives of Africans is stagnating progress on the continent.
Africa finds herself vaccillating from Western influence to Eastern influence.
While some African states may be trying very hard to push back Western Colonialism, they are now lured by Eastern powers who pretend to be friends…because they have not colonised Africa before.
Africans tend to ignore the fact that international affairs are about national interests; that every country is competing for spheres of influence.
And the unfortunate reality to contend with is that the West and the East are engaged in another “Scramble for Africa!”
There is no denying that this scramble has put Africa in a dilemma, since she does not seem to know where she stands.
The one matter that remains ignored is the fact that amid the excitement of Africa seemingly standing up for itself, none of its present leaders refers to the established ideas that Africans once embraced for their liberation and independence.
This means that no matter how much hype we can have around these current leaders and their supposed will to change the course of Africa, this is not sustainable because currently it is their idiosyncracies that hold sway.
What will happen when these leaders leave office?
This means the risk of a weak person taking over the leadership role from them is huge.
Indeed where there is nothing that holds the spirit of African people together – as in terms of ideology – things will fall apart.
The apparent obsession with the so-called Western-style democracy has generated stagnancy regarding Africa’s march towards true independence and total liberation.
What we have observed so far is that African politicians are vying for self-expression in who can perform the best in conditioning the African masses to accept Western democracy (or democratic dictatorship of the West if you like!).
In all honesty, there is currently no leader that can claim to be focused on any home-grown ideology.
In fact, there has never been any leader who has continued to preach in line with the ideologies espoused by past African leaders who had a certain vision which was very clear regarding the African continent.
At the moment there is no particular vision that draws African leaders together because the African Union (AU) is in itself a meeting of paradoxes.
What we have seen, to a great extent, has been outbursts of emotionalism and resistance to colonial practices and so far this has been concentrated only in the Sahel countries like Burkina Faso.
As much as this is commendable, it will be undermined by the said absence of a binding African ideology.
Of what good will pushing back colonial domination be if we do not have anything to replace it with?
Is it enough to have “good governance” – which is nothing but a fulfilment of the requirements of the Western-imposed democracy?
For if there is no African ideology as is the case at the moment, there won’t be any principle by which to exist and the autonomy of any African State will be easy to manipulate.
The ideas that are formulated on the continent are soon destined to flop and an example here is Thabo Mbeki’s African Renaissance ideology, which has largely remained a matter for academic exchange, and this means it won’t be extended to the masses.
This is why it has not gained the desired traction.
As Africans we are recklessly divided and no leader dares to revisit African nationalism and/or Pan Africanism.
The said African ideologies are shunned by African leaders most of whom seem to fear being judged negatively by Western powers.
The said leaders are themselves not free and independent thinkers…hence they can’t be depended upon to champion the freedom and independence of the people that they lead.
It is good to admire what is happening in countries like Burkina Faso, Botswana and Namibia but such actions must be reinforced with pan African thinking because without ideological cohesion among African people and their leaders, there won’t be any progress.
And as they say in Africa, this scenario is akin to that of a chicken scratching backwards.
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